Strong Enough Without You
by only-some-loser
Summary: Sometimes, life sucks, but as long as Riley has her family, she's always going to be okay. (tag to 3x21, Treason Heartbreak Gum)


**AN: Following my obnoxiously long tag to 3x20 is this pretty short tag to 3x21. It's short, but sweet. I hope to be able to get back to working on Something In The Silence, with another chapter of that hopefully going up early next week. Obviously, this is a tag to 3x21, Treason + Heartbreak + Gum. I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!**

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Later, once night had fallen and Matty had arrived, and Mac had almost burnt the house down with his homemade matches, Riley was actually feeling a little better. She didn't have Billy anymore, or even Jack when it wasn't a skype day, but Mac was right. She did have a family who was there for her and loved her.

Mac was sitting right beside her, with his arm around her shoulders, his soft flannel warming her neck. The close, brotherly contact was something she loved more than she ever wanted to admit. Riley had always wanted a little sister, and although she never did truly get that, with Leanna being gone so often, she did get an amazing little brother in Mac, and arguably Bozer too - they still debated which one of them got to be the older sibling, and it was a battle that neither one of them were willing to concede. Mac had truly gone above and beyond to make her smile, bending over backwards with his ridiculous improvised tools for literally everything they needed that night. He suggested they make s'mores over the fire, but instead of using regular s'more sticks, Mac insisted that the s'mores would taste better if they were cooked on wood sticks. So he snapped off some twigs from a nearby tree and began scraping the bark off with his knife, then sanitizing it. It was only then that he allowed them to all make s'mores, but only if they listened to his pitch for a s'more cooker. He had most of the plans drawn up already, and from what Riley could tell, he was going to build it from an old toaster, a timer, and some metal doodads he had lying around. It looked like something out of a 1950s magazine about the future. But the whole time, Mac kept looking back at Riley, as if to see if it was working, if he was making her smile and laugh. The more Riley smiled, the more Mac smiled.

"Thank you," Riley said, as she made her way to the door later. "For everything. Today really sucked, but you were there for me," she said, holding steady eye contact with Mac. "You've always been there for me, and I feel like I've never really thanked you for that, or appreciated that enough, so I'm telling you now. Thank you."

"Riley, you don't need to thank me for doing what family does," Mac replied with a smile. He pulled her in for another hug, and she let him. Riley knew that Mac craved that physical affection more than anyone, so when the times came that he initiated it, it would kill him if she didn't reciprocate. That was just another reason why the little voice in the back of her mind told her that she was wrong, that James was bad news, that she shouldn't trust him, and she definitely shouldn't have pushed Mac to make up with him. But, as always, she ignored that little voice, and focused on the moment, and the fact that Mac was the greatest little brother in the world.

"Still," she continued. "I really appreciate it."

"I'm just glad you're feeling a bit better," Mac replied with a half-hearted smile and a small shrug. "I hate that this happened."

"Yeah," she sighed. "That's just life. I guess I just have really bad luck with men."

"Girl, me too," Matty interjected as she walked into the kitchen to grab her jacket. She was on her way out too.

Mac smiled. "I'll leave you guys to it, then," he said. "Goodnight." Mac turned to walk back out to the deck, where Bozer and Desi were cleaning up, but stopped, turning around almost sheepishly. "You guys both know that I- well, that you guys mean- just that I just-"

"We know," Matty interrupted with a gentle smile. "We love you too, you dumb genius." Mac ducked his head to hide his blush, but smiled, before nodding and walking back out onto the deck. "It's a shame that more guys weren't a little more like him," Matty continued. "At least when it came to manners."

Riley grabbed her coat and walked with her out the door with a giggle. "You're totally right. I don't think Mac would ever cheat on someone," she muttered.

"Or start a whole new family with someone else and then have the audacity to ask his ex for help to commit treason," Matty added.

Riley couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Wow, you're right. We really do have terrible luck with men, don't we?" She smiled, but shook her head, then turned to face Matty. "You know, you deserve so much better than Ethan. You're a badass and there's some badass guy out there waiting for you, and I can't wait until you meet him." She was only slightly concerned that she was overstepping. She and Matty were at the point where she should be able to say things like that.

"And you deserve better too," Matty replied seriously, all the joking gone from her tone. "Riley, you're incredible, and amazing, and any guy who cheats on you is worthless, okay? And I am so sorry for sending you on a mission with him. Billy is an idiot, a dumbass, really, and you deserve so, so much better." She paused for a moment. "We both do."

"Well you're definitely right that we both deserve better, but you don't need to be sorry. If it hadn't been for that mission, then who knows how long Billy would've played me," Riley replied with a shake of her head.

"Hey, look at me," Matty ordered gently. "This isn't on you. None of it is. This is all on him. All of it. He's the one who threw away the best thing that ever happened to him. He's lucky that Jack is off terrorist hunting, or else he would be getting his arms ripped off."

Riley had to smile at that, and it was certainly true. "You're right, you're right," she muttered. Riley sighed and looked up at the beautiful night sky. Somewhere out there, there was a guy made just for her. She just didn't know who it was yet. "Thanks, Matty."

"Any time," Matty replied with a smile, squeezing Riley's hand.

Yeah, somewhere out there, there was a guy for both of them. But those guys could wait, because Riley didn't need him yet, and neither did Matty. They would be just fine without a guy at all. They had each other, and that was all that really mattered.


End file.
